


On Your Side

by C-K-Mack (CKM_Writes), CKM_Writes



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-27 21:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13889538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CKM_Writes/pseuds/C-K-Mack, https://archiveofourown.org/users/CKM_Writes/pseuds/CKM_Writes
Summary: Drinking away the sting of seeing her crush in the arms of another, Beca runs into someone she never expected and her life is about to change completelyLoosely inspired by the song by The Veronicas and the Ruby Rose music video





	1. If We Knew Then What We Know Now

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, I have no clue what I am doing. There is a strong possibility of violence and drug abuse ahead. You have been warned.

If Beca were honest with herself, seeing with Chloe with Chicago was probably the primary catalyst to her decision. Sometimes a riff just doesn't fit no matter how you loop it. You slow it down, speed it up, compress and expand it, trying to synch time signatures and keys that were never meant to flow. Sooner or later, you realize that some things are beyond the limits of your skills.

Amy, of course, insisted on doing a pub crawl to celebrate. Never mind these excursions usually ended in one or both of them crawling in the literal sense at some point in the evening. After the third drink at the first bar, Beca stepped outside to get some air. She heard someone draw a long drag from a cigarette and the red glow of the cherry caught her eye. Leaned up against a wall, looking as cool as ever, stood Calamity.

"That's... um... bad for your voice, you know?" Really not the best ice breaker. In fact, Beca would not have been surprised if the leader of rival band, Evermoist, cussed her out or at the very least drop her the kind of sarcastic response she would have probably given.

Instead, Calamity exhaled a puff of smoke and held Beca's gaze for a long minute before dropping her cigarette to the ground and putting it out with her heel. "Yup. I've been meaning to quit." After a few moments of silence, she took a few steps closer. She wasn't, technically, violating Beca's space, but her stance clearly suggested a challenge. "Well?"

Beca hated to step down from a challenge, but she was at a complete loss. She wasn't even sure what the taller woman was expecting. "Um..." When did her throat get so dry? Now that Calamity had moved into the light, it was easier to see her sharp angular features, framed by, what would they call that, a pixie cut? Light green eyes stared at her without seeming to blink. Oh right, she was supposed to say something. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Calamity bit her lower lip before offering a crooked smile. "I thought you'd never ask."


	2. I Know That Look

"Alright," Beca said as she slammed her bottle of beer down. "Calamity, Veracity - Those are all made up names, right?"

Calamity grinned. "Nope, real as rain. We met at a support group for kids of evil parents."

Beca giggled. "No you didn't!"

"No," her grin softened to a gentle smile. "we didn't. Charity and i went to school together. We stole Veracity from a female duo. And Serenity and I, well, we have a complicated history."

Beca raised an eyebrow but she was promptly distracted by Amy singing karaoke total eclipse of the heart at the top of her lungs. That would have been fine, except there was no karaoke and the bald gentleman whose head she thought was a microphone didn't seem amused.

 

***

 

"I know that look," Calamity said.

"What look?" Beca had lost track of Amy at some point in the night, Probably shortly after she lost count of how many drinks she'd had. Now if she could forget the uneasy feeling watching her best friend kissing that soldier.

"The 'I am so in love with my straight best friend' look.

"I am not..." Beca wanted her best friend to be happy. She just missed the intimacy they had when Chloe was between boyfriends. It felt so nice to cuddle up. And Chloe has this twinkle in her eyes when she smiles and her laughter sounds like wind chimes and she smells so... Beca sighed. "I am so screwed, aren't I?"

Calamity laughed. "Don't worry kid, you'll be alright"

Beca scowled and slurred indignantly, "I doubt I am much younger than you!"

"I know, but you're such a cute little baby gay," calamity said in a cutesy tone

Beca blinked at her new drinking buddy. She had been avoiding that particular label for so long and to hear the word slip so easily from the other singer's lips was disconcerting. "You're being kind of condescending." Her remark earned nothing but a smirk in reply. "Which is how you've been since I met you, so why am I surprised?"

The smirk grew into a full grin. "Look, over the next few months, you are going to have people throwing themselves at you. It doesn't hurt to have someone around to keep you humble, you know, grounded."

"Why would people throw themselves at me?" Also, why is the room so wobbly? Good grief, it's hot in here.

"You mean aside from the fact thst you'll be on your way to becoming famous, that you have an amazing voice, a pretty face, " Calamity dragged her eyes over Beca deliberately. "And a rockin' bod."

Beca flushed and promptly forgot how to do English talk thing. Ugh forget talk, she could barely think. This amazing... woman had basically called Beca sexy and her brain didn't know what to do with that. Apparently, her body did because she suddenly found her lips on Calamity's.

Calamity laughed and shook her head. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Wait, what? Beca panicked and slammed back one of the shots in front of Calamity.

***

Beca woke up in a fog.

The first thing she noticed was that her mouth tasted like a bug crawled inside and died. Next she recognized the scent of lavender which was weird because her hotel pillows usually smelled... Beca's eyes shot open. The ceiling looked familiar. How had she made it back to her room?

She glanced at the clock but it wasn't on the right side of the bed. She rolled over to the left, but their was a body there. It was neither round with blonde hair nor small with red hair. She flashed back to the night before and the light from a bar sign as she recognized the hair framing a peaceful face.

Light green eyes slowly opened and ruby rose lips turned up into a smile. "Well good morning, you!"


	3. The Scent of Lavender

As her senses cleared, Beca realized she might have been in the same hotel, but she was probably not in her room, the layout being reversed from what she remembered. She lifted her sheet and the momentary relief that she felt, seeing that she still had clothes on, evaporated when she realized that the clothes weren't hers.

Calamity must have understood what she was doing because she laughed and said. "Yeah, you can keep that. I tried washing your blouse out but, honestly, I think you'd be better off burning it." She threw a thumb in the direction of a chair where one of Beca's favorite tops for clubbing lay inside a clear plastic bag.

Long lashes fluttered sleepily over insanely green eyes giving Beca goosebumps and leaving her breathless, wordless.

"So, how are you feeling this morning? Did you sleep comfortably?" Calamity's morning voice still had a rough husk that stirred butterflies in Beca's belly.

"I..." Beca opened and closed her jaw. "Did we...?"

Calamity's eyes grew impossibly larger. "You mean you don't remember? I thought it was special. I thought..." her voice started in a sob that morphed into a full-bellied laugh. "As much fun as that might have been, under different circumstances, you were not really in any condition. I may have had a few borderline pillow princess exes, but an unconscious partner is, you know, illegal and not my idea of fun."

Beca nodded and fingered with the drawstring of the hoodie she had on.

"You uh, couldn't really keep all of that alcohol down. You couldn't remember your room number and I didn't want to wake your friends so I brought you to mine, got you cleaned up and loaned you my shirt. By the time I finished washing your shirt, you were passed out."

Beca pondered pulling the hood over her face and disappearing. She hadn't felt this embarrassed in years, since the blond captain of a rival team had turned her into a stuttering gay mess before she even realized she was gay. The hoodie smelled like lavender. At least it's not cinnamon, she laughed at herself. "I'm so embarrassed. Thank you for... everything though."

"It's my..." Calamity looked at her phone and sighed. "Sorry, I need to take this." She pressed the button to answer and held up a finger to Beca. "Good morning. Yes. Yes, I know. I had three drinks, I counted. Okay, Mom! I'm sorry you're right I'm just. I'll talk to you on the plane, okay?"

Beca raised an eyebrow. "Mom?"

Calamity seemed confused for a moment. "Oh. No, that was Serenity. She just worries a lot. Like I said, it's complicated."

"Oh." Beca suddenly felt very much like an intruder, half expecting the snarky guitarist to bust through the door and drag her out. Serenity seemed like a perfect match for Calamity, a smooth mixture of exotic and urban cool. A ring from her own phone gave her the exit she desperately wanted.

"Hey, Ames!"

"Oi trollop, tell what ever hunk of man meat you hooked up with last night that you have to bounce. We are leaving for the airport in thirty."

"Thanks for the reminder. I'm on my way!" She sing-songed before hanging up. She had packed her things before hitting the clubs, but it seemed like as good an excuse as any. "So, thanks again, you know, for everything. I, um, gotta fly. I mean, literally fly. Well not me. I don't have wings. I mean on a plane. So anyway..."

Something flashed across Calamity's eyes, though Beca couldn't guess what. "Yes, of course, we need to catch our flight, too. I'll see you around, right?"

"Oh yeah, totally!" Beca said, gathering her things and scrambling out of the room as quickly as possible.

***

Chloe spend the first half hour of the flight back gushing about Chicago and then the following hour fretting over how to make a long distance relationship work. After all look at what happened to Beca and Jesse.

Distance wasn't the only reason Beca and Jesse called it off, but it wasn't helpful to the conversation. Beca just allowed Chloe to cuddle on her until she fell asleep.

There is a brief moment of turbulence that triggers a memory.

Beca was clutching desperately to the pole when another jolt on the track sent her stomach whirling and the next moment she was "that girl"

She really couldn't blame the other passengers for staring at her like she had the plague and leprosy wrapped into one. She didn't even want to be with herself.

Then she felt it: Two impossibly soft hands cradled her face. The angel with emerald eyes said, "It don't matter babe, I got you. I'm on your side." It was a degree of tenderness seemed alien in Beca's life.

Chloe whimpered in her sleep and shifted on Beca's arm. It didn't matter now. Life seemed like it would go back to normal. Except not really. With the new contract, Chloe in school and Amy doing who knows what with her newfound riches, things were definitely going to change. Beca took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of lavender on her (permanently) borrowed hoodie


	4. Cheetos and Cheap Wine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in New York, Beca finds that things are not as bad as she imagined, in fact, they are kind of awesome!

Beca woke up, Monday morning, thinking about what her first day would be like and caught herself wondering what kind of idiot artist she would be working with before remembering that she was the idiot artist. This thing was really happening. She was going to be the one making music now. Except she wasn't a song writer like Emily. She didn't have the confidence in herself like Amy and Chloe. Chloe, who was now laying on top of her arm, softly snoring and looking like an angel with her red curls framing her face. Chloe, who was in love with some soldier across the ocean. Beca sighed and slowly pulled her arm free, trying not to wake her best friend. That only caused Chloe to snuggle in closer mumbling, "S'too early."

Beca laughed. "Yeah, it is, but some of us have to go to work today."

Chloe's eyes popped open. "Oh my gosh, today's the day. You must be so excited!" How Chloe could go from zero to sixty without coffee was one of life's great mysteries.

Beca chuckled. "I'm gonna need coffee before I can handle excited. More importantly, I need to pee." She gently tugged on her arm.

Chloe gave an apologetic smile and sat up. "I'll go make some coffee."

"Coffee makers broken," Amy called from the other side of the curtain.

Beca sighed. Amy was probably the reason the coffee maker was broken, but she didn't feel like getting into that discussion before she had, well coffee. "It's fine. I'll get some on the way in." She finally made her way to the bathroom and showered and dressed for the day. A few minutes later she ran out the door hearing Chloe say "Go get 'em superstar!" and Amy saying "Can you bring me back a coffee?"

***

By the time Beca got to the new building where she would be working, the doubts started creeping in again. What if DJ Khaled's concert was a fluke? What if she had no music left to give? Did they expect her to write all of her own songs or was she just doing covers? Could she make a career out of that?

Lost in her thoughts as she was, she nearly ran over Theo who had been waiting in the lobby for her.

"I'm happy to see you, too." he said with a cheeky grin.

Beca looked down and realized that she had grabbed his arm to keep from falling over. She quickly retracted her hands and mumbled an apology.

Theo smiled good-naturedly and shook his head. "No problem, Boss. So, DJ Khaled wanted to be here today, but unfortunately he couldn't shuffle his schedule around, but he will be by in a few days to make sure you're settled in." 

"Okay, so...." Beca had no idea what was going on. Well, she did because she'd worked on the other side before, but she didn't know what DJ Khaled was expecting and, dude, everything felt so different from this side. "What do we do first?"

"First, is coffee?"

"Oh, um, yeah. What kind do you want?"

Theo smiled but managed to hold back a laugh.

"What?"

"The question is what kind of coffee you want. Or would you prefer water, tea, hot apple cider?"

"Oh. Oh!" This was definitely going to be different. Theo introduced her to the production team and showed her around the studio. Everyone seemed excited to be working with her and wanted to get her opinion on songs they wanted her to try or whether she wanted to write her own music. By the end of the day, she had a general idea of an outline for her first record. Her. First. Record. Yeah, that was an insane thought.

***

She returned in the evening to an empty apartment. It wasn't unusual for Amy to disappear, but Chloe wasn't supposed to take evening shifts until her classes started. She was about to shoot off a text when both Chloe and Amy came through the door, dropping their bags and tackling her in a hug pile on the bed. 

"Congratulations, on your big day! Chloe said."

"Now that you're a big shot, you can start pulling your weight around here," Amy added.

"Thank you, Chloe. And my advance hasn't cleared yet so I was hoping you could actually pay your part of the rent this month, Millionaire Amy."

Amy shrugged. "You get a little money and everybody wants a piece!"

Beca sighed but Chloe just giggled, then jumped up to unload their bags. A box of pizza, Cheetos and cheap wine. It was a nightmare for Beca's stomach, but it brought back fond memories of when they had first moved into the apartment. Maybe things would get back to normal after all.

When an unknown number came up on Beca's phone, she almost let it go to voice mail, but after everyone she had met earlier in the day, she thought it might be important. She didn't expect that particular voice.

"Hey, Beca. How's tricks?" The voice, smooth and sensual, made her insides flutter.

"Calamity?" Beca half-whispered.

"The one and only," Calamity said. "Say, you stay in New York, right?"


	5. Do-Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calamity shows up and asks for a do-over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short update. I just wanted to keep the momentum going. As always, constructive comments are welcome.

"Thanks for agreeing to this. I feel like there is something sacrilegious about eating at Chipotle when we are only a block from Hell's Kitchen, but asking about vegan options at a new restaurant can be frustrating." Calamity's smoky voice carried the beautiful hint of a gentle lilt that Beca had never noticed before.

"Did you ever live in Tasmania?"

Calamity laughed, briefly choking on her drink. "Sorry, that was oddly specific. I was born in Melbourne, but yeah, I lived in Tasmania for a time when I was little. Since I've been in the states, for a while most people don't even pick up on my accent anymore." Her eyes searched Beca's for a moment before they lit up. "Oh, your friend! Pudgy Patricia?"

This time it was Beca who nearly choked. "Fat Amy, but we just call her Amy."

Calamity nodded. "Sorry, not sure where I got Patricia from."

"You're not entirely wrong," Beca smiled. "It's a very long story and mostly hers to tell. So what brings you to town, anyway?" The phone call the night before had taken Beca by surprise. She half expected to never see the beautiful woman sitting across the table from her again.

"Can't I just drop by to visit a pretty lady?" There was a playfulness in both her voice and eyes and Beca didn't know how to take her.

"I suppose," Beca replied with an arched eyebrow.

Something passed over Calamity's eyes as she leaned forward, but then she leaned back and bit her lip before letting out a breath. "Evermoist has a gig in the village. It's a small venue, but it's paid work."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. That's cool."

"Also, we live here."

This time, Beca did choke. Calamity moved to help her, but Beca waved her off. "Sorry, you just surprised me."

"There are 8 million people living here, it shouldn't be that shocking." Calamity rolled her eyes, but there was no malice in her tone. 

Beca hadn't even noticed when Calamity had taken her hand. She glanced down and back up to Calamity's pale emerald eyes. "So..."

"So," Calamity said as she squeezed Beca's hand. "It seems like you didn't remember much of our first date, and I was thinking maybe we could do a do-over, you know, sober?" Her voice had dropped to a nearly husky tone.

"Um, do-over?" Beca's mouth felt dry. Thirsty. So Thirsty.

Calamity leaned across the table and kissed Beca lightly and though the kiss was fairly brief, there was so much to take in. It was different being kissed than kissing. Maybe it was the lack of alcohol, but Calamity felt much more present. Beca senses were filled with a familiar lavender, but now there was lip balm and iced tea and some kind of peppermint. There were lips, so much softer than Jesse's. There was some obnoxious guy saying "get a room" and out of the corner of Beca's eye, there was Calamity giving said dude the middle finger.

"Yup," Beca said. "Do-over sounds good."


	6. Meet me at the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca learns that she and Calamity have even more in common than she imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s super-short, but I just wanted a quick update so you know I have not forgotten you! Thanks for sticking with me! :)

“I can’t believe we had the same answer! I don’t believe in destiny, but that is some wild coincidence,” Beca said as she pulled her board out of her shoulder bag. It was Calamity’s idea to ‘reveal something about yourself that most people don’t know.’ Turns out the we’re both serious (Calamity was actually nationally ranked back in Australia) skaters before college.As she looked over at Calamity, with her green checkered vans, SnapBack tilted to the side, baggy khaki shorts and a beater that showed off her arm tattoos (and teased at a few more, just out of sight), Beca had one singular thought, “I am so gay!”

Calamity regarded her with a warm, but still inscrutable, gaze. “I'm not all that surprised. We have a lot in common,” she said as she wiped off her Vans and pulled out her own board. “Although I didn't expect you to own any 1971.”

“You know Brujas?” Beca looked down at her limited addition hoodie. Since college, she'd started paying more attention to social justice issues and while she wasn't a person of color, (Flo, actually, told her about Brujas) the one thing being with the Bellas instilled in Beca was the desire to support her sisters all over the country and the world.

Calamity grinned. “Actually, I know Arianna.” Of course! The woman seemed to know everybody.

“Gil? Shut up, you don't!”

Calamity stepped up on her board and smirked. “Oh young padawan, much to teach you, I have.”

Beca laughed at the reference and whispered a thanks to Jesse for making her endure a grueling weekend marathon of the first seven Star Wars movies. She should make a point of calling him soon.

Calamity came back towards her, stopped and popped up her board. “Alright, show me what you've got.”


	7. The third date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca and Calamity meet unexpectedly and plan their third date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short, I know. Just didn’t want y’all to think I’d forgotten this one.

Beca nearly missed her, but the sight of the usually cool Calamity waving her arms like a mad woman is not something you see every day. She glanced up to see the light was still red and rolled down her window.

Calamity's face slipped back into the familiar smirk. “I know we've already been on two official dates, but um…” Pale green eyes flicked to the vehicle Beca was driving.

It took a moment for the insinuation to sink in. “Oh my G- you bitch!” Beca snorted a laugh. “No, I'm not a walking cliche. The U-haul is for my roommate Amy. She's moving to a new apartment.”

Calamity nodded, but her expression remained doubtful. “Isn't your friend, I believe you said, ‘loaded’ now? Why are you fetching her a moving truck when she could just hire someone?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. That just seems to be the way things…” Her train of thought was cut off by a car horn blaring behind her. “I've gotta move, call me?’ Calamity smiled and they waved at each other before Beca continued through the intersection. 

Beca’s custom ringtone (a riff from Evermoist singing How a Heart Unbreaks) filled the cab and she answered in hands-free mode. “I didn't mean, right this second, lamb. Sorry, weird nickname. I'll think of something better.”

The fact that Calamity's throaty chuckle could do things to Beca through the phone was criminal. “Don't apologize. I like it. It's definitely better than Cal. And Callie is so… anyway, do you want to play games?” Beca was fortunate to be stopped at another light, because her brain seized at the question. Her innate defensiveness told her the question was an accusation of some sort, maybe Calamity not believing Beca about the moving truck. But Calamity's tone sounded more hopeful, almost nervous. Surely she didn't mean “sex games”?! 

Beca snorted at her internal use of quotes and decided on a neutral approach. “Depends on what you have in mind,” she said, though it probably sounded more like a question.

“I don't know. Like, Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. I even have an original Atari console if you wanna go old school. Or you know Monopoly or whatever if you're into board games.”

“Oh! Oh, sure, that'd be dope.” Dope? Really Beca? “I mean sounds like fun.”

“Dope!” Beca could hear the smile in Calamity's voice. “Lemme know when you're free and we'll match schedules. Talk at you later, Ici!”

“E.C.?”

“Yeah, the middle of your name with a different meaning, like ’lamb’. Ici means ’here’ in French.

Beca laughed. “Cool, we'll talk later.”


End file.
